blind hope blues

for trena riley

by henry 7. reneau, jr

the blues toil within a gilded, circular vacuum.
when the Mason jar tilt sideways
hobbled lightening bugs
illuminate the world inside their glass cage
with the last remaining light casting a shadow on the sun,
beauty within emptiness, hidden in plain sight.

we are witnesses, 400 years underground,
and commotion is the atmosphere we swim in,
testing and backstabbing and pulling the knife out
to lick our wounds and try to heal
only to make a scar that says: STAB HERE REPEATEDLY

the blues toil within a brick-walled, linear vacuum
that takes more than Elvis to fill. time stutter-steps,
a heartbeat across a horizon-less plane
where God and the Devil circle in pugilism
like ancient, rusting cars idling in tall grass,
beauty within emptiness, hidden in plain sight.

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henry 7. reneau, jr. has been published in various journals/anthologies, among them, Nameless Magazine; Subliminal Interiors Literary Arts Magazine; The Chaffey Review; The View From Here; FOLLY Magazine; Entering; Tule Review; BlazeVOX; Black Heart Magazine; Forty Ounce Bachelors; Suisun Valley Review; and Tidal Basin Review.

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